From 2009 to 2020, the number of public schools using security cameras rose from 61% to 91%.

There are plenty of good reasons why so many school districts have adopted security camera systems, from promoting student safety to preventing vandalism and a variety of other benefits. But now, thanks to the powerful capabilities of AI video surveillance systems, school security cameras can provide even more benefits.

To help you determine if using security cameras is the right choice for your school, we'll explore everything you need to know about AI-powered security cameras and the advantages they provide regarding school safety.

Learn more about how schools improve security with our AI Camera System in our on-demand webinar.

Why should schools use security camera systems?

From protection against school shootings and other incidents to helping prevent criminal activity such as theft, security cameras can bolster school and student safety in various ways. Some of the most pressing challenges that the right security system will help solve include:

Campus safety and security

The first and most obvious benefit of school security cameras is that they can improve your school's safety. You can integrate security cameras with access control systems to control who can enter the school building, ensuring that only authorized students and staff are allowed inside. AI security cameras can even detect when a door has been left open and notify an administrator to ensure that points of entrance and egress are secured.

Security cameras also enable schools to detect potential threats in real time so that lockdown procedures can commence and law enforcement can be notified as soon as possible.

Emergency response

School security cameras are also effective for speeding up and supporting emergency response protocols. Real-time alerts, the ability to share live footage with law enforcement and first responders, and the ability to automatically detect suspicious behavior with AI analytics are just a few of the AI security system features that can help facilitate swift and effective responses to emergencies.

Monitoring and addressing misbehavior

While protecting students from outside threats is the primary purpose of school surveillance systems, it's also important to keep students safe among their peers. School security systems can ensure that student misbehavior, such as bullying, drug use, sexual harassment, and vandalism, doesn't go unnoticed, enabling schools to monitor and address these issues as they happen.

Vape detection

Vaping has become a big problem in high schools and middle schools alike; the CDC reports that 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students were using e-cigarettes in 2022. Thanks to Spot AI's integration with HALO Smart Sensors — the leading vape detection sensor on the market — school administrators can now use video cameras to automatically detect and document when a vape is used on school property.

Vandalism and trespassing

Security cameras can help protect school property even when school is out and no one is in the building. By providing round-the-clock monitoring, a school security system helps prevent vandalism and trespassing that occurs after hours.

Incident documentation and evidence

Video footage is a powerful source of evidence. Whether you are simply addressing a student's misbehavior or bringing legal action against someone who committed a criminal act, the evidence provided by security footage can prove invaluable in a range of scenarios.

Where schools can optimize security

Where to place school cameras is a key consideration when designing a school surveillance system. On the one hand, you want to achieve as much coverage as possible and minimize blind spots. At the same time, though, it's essential to respect your students' and staff's privacy. 

As for where school security cameras should be placed, there are a few key areas of a school building that you should equip with video surveillance:   

• Classrooms
• Entrances and exits
• Hallways
• Common areas (cafeteria, staff break rooms, auditorium)
• Building perimeters
• Parking lots

With Spot AI's AI-powered security system, schools can create AI alerts by drawing zones around key areas. These alerts will notify you in real time when a zone is breached, empowering security personnel to take quick and appropriate action.

Benefits of an AI camera system in schools

Security cameras on their own are highly beneficial to high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools alike. But when you pair your school's security cameras with an AI-powered security system, they are even more beneficial. Some of the biggest advantages provided by industry-leading AI surveillance systems such as Spot AI are:

Real-time threat detection and response

AI security systems can automatically detect anomalies and suspicious behavior and provide automated alerts. These alerts allow for real-time threat detection and response and speed up response times in situations where every second counts.

Data-driven insights for school administrators

Video footage can provide a lot of insights to school administrators looking to further optimize school safety, from identifying troublesome students to uncovering trends in security incidents. With the help of AI video analytics, extracting these insights from raw footage can be done automatically.

Streamlined data extraction from footage

Video footage can provide a lot of data and insights, but manually extracting and analyzing that data is time-consuming. With Spot AI, school administrators can automatically extract and analyze data from surveillance footage, enabling the same powerful insights without tedious legwork.

Instantly detect anomalies (like wandering students)

Anomalies such as a wandering student or a student entering an area they aren't supposed to are often precursors to more serious incidents. With Spot AI's anomaly detection features, schools can receive alerts when these anomalies occur so that they can be addressed before they evolve into something more serious.

Improved surveillance capabilities

All the features and benefits we've covered so far amount to vastly improved school surveillance capabilities. Rather than just documenting incidents for future evidence, AI security systems turn your school's security cameras into a tool for detecting and responding to issues in real time. This allows you to be proactive and preventive when enforcing school safety and collecting video footage for evidence and analysis.

Features of AI-based video recorders that boost school security

High-quality AI surveillance systems come equipped with various innovative features that can boost school security and student safety. Some of the most useful security-boosting features you can look forward to with Spot AI include:

High-quality video analytics

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth a thousand pictures. Without the right video analytics software, though, gleaning insights from your raw surveillance footage is like looking for diamonds in the rough. 

With high-quality, AI-powered video analytics features such as those offered by Spot AI, you can automatically extract key insights from your video footage and put those insights to work for even stronger school security.

Integrations

Leading AI security systems such as Spot AI offer powerful integrations that can make your school's security cameras even more beneficial. One example is Spot AI's integration with HALO Smart Sensors, which allows schools to detect vape usage. 

Another example of an AI security system integration that is beneficial to schools is Spot AI's integrations with access control systems, which enable schools to integrate their security cameras with their door locks for automated access control.

Annotation

In many cases, video footage requires a little extra context so the viewer can understand what they're seeing. With Spot AI, you can easily add annotations to surveillance footage for improved documentation and collaboration.

People presence

AI security systems can detect human beings and differentiate them from other objects. This allows you to receive automated alerts when someone enters a predetermined zone and ensures you know when and where your students and staff are present.

Accessibility of footage and sharing

Authorized users can access video footage from any location with a cloud-based surveillance system such as Spot AI. Along with improved accessibility, AI surveillance systems also make it quick and easy to share the footage with other parties when collaboration is needed. This includes the ability to share real-time video footage with law enforcement or first responders during an emergency.

Smart zones

Spot AI's smart zones feature enables you to draw zones around key areas and receive real-time alerts when motion or people are detected in those areas. This feature allows schools to better secure areas such as parking lots and entrances during times when students and staff are not expected to be in these areas.

Vehicle idle time

With Spot AI, schools can detect the presence of vehicles in parking lots or other areas and automatically analyze where and for how long vehicles are idling. This allows you to create alerts for vehicles that have been idling for a prolonged period so that you can detect and address suspicious behavior.

AI alerts

From people presence to motion detection to vehicle idle times, Spot AI enables schools to create a range of customized AI alerts. These alerts transform your school's security cameras from simple incident-documentation tools to tools you can leverage as preventive security measures.   

What to look for in a security camera system for schools

If your school has decided that a video security system is the right choice for improving student safety, it's vital to choose the right system. To ensure that you purchase a security camera system optimized for school safety, here are the key features you will want to look for:

Modern software design

High-quality software is even more important in modern surveillance systems than in high-quality hardware. For example, AI-powered surveillance systems provide the broad range of benefits we've already discussed, thanks to the quality of their software. 

Even traditional surveillance systems, however, need to be powered by software that makes the video footage they collect easy to access and share. Modern software design is, therefore, one of the most important features to prioritize when choosing a security camera system for your school.

Camera-agnostic system

Spot AI is a camera-agnostic system, which means it's compatible with all popular security cameras. If you already have security cameras in place, using our camera-agnostic system allows you to enjoy all the features and benefits of Spot AI without having to purchase all-new hardware. Even if you plan to purchase new cameras, choosing a camera-agnostic system means you won't be locked into buying hardware from one vendor.

Secure local and cloud storage

Security camera systems should offer both secure local storage and the ability to pull clips from the cloud whenever you need to. This ensures authorized users can access footage at any time, and makes sharing video footage quick and easy.

Cybersecurity measures

Anything that is connected to the internet is a potential entry point for hackers, and security cameras are no exception. To ensure that only authorized users can access the video footage you record, choosing a surveillance system with robust cybersecurity measures is essential. That's why Spot AI is designed to encrypt video footage with 128-bit AES encryption to guarantee it never falls into the wrong hands.

Strengthen your school safety and security with Spot AI

As the security challenges that schools face continue to mount, the need for high-quality surveillance systems has never been clearer. If you would like to protect your students and staff with the most powerful AI security camera system available today, Spot AI can help! In fact, all the features we've covered in this article, including high-quality cameras, are included with Spot AI at no extra charge.

To decide if Spot AI is the right choice for strengthening your school's safety and security, learn more about Spot AI's cutting-edge video intelligence features and benefits.

‍